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OLD FORT SNELLING Loren Johnson

THIS YEAR marks the sesquicentennial of the laying of the cornerstone of old Fort Snelling on Septem­ber 10, 1820. The venerable fort's 150th birthday has been noted with much fanfare and many festivities, climaxed on September 13 (tiie Sunday nearest the ac­tual anniversary) with a day-long program. Recently the issuance of a special commemorative postage stamp helped give the fort national prominence.

Such attention is appropriate, because the pic­turesque limestone citadel overlooking the junction of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers is probably the state's most historic ground. It was the first military fort in this region and the hub of settlement for a large area, among other things, and has been called "perhaps the most significant landmark in the entire history of Minnesota and the Northwest."^

Meanwhile, toork has continued this summer on an integral part of the observance — the Minnesota His­torical Society's enormous project to restore the dia­mond-shaped post to the way it looked during its peak years of 1824-48. On the folloioing pages is an in-depth report on the restoration by the man who has directed the project much of the time since current ivork began in 1965. The report is the first of several features on Fort Snelling that comprise this issue of Minnesota His­tory. — Ed.

ONE OF THE NATION'S most important and exact­ing restorations of an early military post is gradually taking shape on the high point of land above the junc­tion of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers on the

' Russell W. Fridley, "Fort Snelling: From Military Post to Historic Site," in Minnesota History, .3.5:178 (Decem­ber, 1956).

southern fringe of the Twin Cities. The restoration and reconstruction of old Fort Snelling, begun by the his­toric sites department of the Minnesota Historical So-ciet\- in 1965, is now nearing the halfway point. Completed so far are the Round, Hexagonal, and Pen­tagonal towers, the guardroom complex, magazine, schoolhouse, sutler's .store, wellhouse, and some seven hundred feet of wall. Still to be restored or recon­structed are the officers' quarters, the commandant's house, barracks, shops, hospital, and the semicircular battery.

In contrast to the jet planes overhead and the maze of automobiles rushing over highwa\'s nearbv, the fort has the appearance of a ninetcenth-ceutur\- anachro­nism amidst twentieth-centur\' confusion. But more and more "fugitives" from the freeways are finding in the fort a fascinating reminder of their frontier heritage, of the beginning of white settlement in the state. And as the restoration project progresses it promises to be­come an even greater tourist attraction than it is now, especialh' in conjunction with below-the-bluff recrea­tion areas that also arc a part of Fort Snelling State Park.

Now definiteh' on the map, old Fort Snelling was in danger of obliteration several times in the past. In 1895, for example, although there had been earlier recognition of Fort Snelling's deteriorating condition, the first specific proposal for its preservation was espoused bv General Edwin C. Mason, then comman­dant. Speaking at a ceremony to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the post, Mason noted: "If the people of Minnesota would preserve Old Fort Snell-

Mr. Johnson is director of restoration for the Minnesota Historical Society.

Fall 1970 83

ing for coming generations, they should make haste, for sooner or later the buildings so dear to cver\' Min­nesotan will be torn down to make improvements. In the War Department, there is neither romance nor sympathy. In this old fort we have one of the most interesting places in the frontier history of our country. I suggest that either the Historical Society or the Twin Cities secure from the General Government the control of this place; having done this, restore the old wall and the demolished bastions . convert these buildings into storehouses for the display of such articles as may yet be collected, illustrating the way in which the In­dians and the white man lived and traveled while this beautiful State was a wilderness. . . Every year these things become more valuable and interesting. They should be collected now. In a few years, it will be impossible to find them. Such a museum, in the old fort, restored to its former state, would give us a place unique in its character. There would be nothing like it in the United States."-

The next day, an editorial in the St. Paul Pioneer Press commented that "The celebration : . . is a re­minder that although we are in a habit of regarding Minnesota as a young state, she already begins to have a history in a really remote past. . . The history of Fort Snelling, moreover, is by no means a common­place one. . . .

"In General Mason's address he made a sugges­tion . . . which is worthy of the attention of the peo­ple of the state, or at least of the tv '̂o cities. The restoration of the Old Fort and its preservation as a museum would be a most excellent beginning toward conserving what we have of historical interest. . . . Few American cities are in possession of a spot at once so historic, so beautiful and so accessible. The ad­vantages of securing it as an object of local interest would be incalculable."^

INTEREST IN the preservation and restoration of the fort fluctuated. Enthusiasm, quick to rise, as quickly subsided. In 1901, six vears after the impassioned pleas of Mason and the Pioneer Press, the War De­partment ordered that the original officers' quarters be razed. A citizens' committee prevented their complete destruction only after considerable damage had been done. When plans for remodeling the post were an­nounced in 1903, many people feared that what re­mained of the old fort would be completely wiped out. However, the Pioneer Press of July 19, 1903, assured Minnesotans that "Everything is being done to retain the historic view, rather than emphasize what is new. With this in mind, the new buildings are to be plas­tered on the exterior with a color suggestive of age •— probably light yellow." In 1904, though, the post quar­

termaster had the Round Tower covered with smooth white stucco. This disfigurement caused such an outciy that it was removed within a year.

Concern about the fort declined again after 1905. In 1928 Willoughby Babcock, then curator of the Min­nesota Historical Society museum, suggested that the Round Tower be used as a museum. This was not to transpire until the late 1930s when the joint efforts of the society, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and the post conmiand made it a reality. The WPA renovated the tower, which had been converted earlier to a residence. Its two-story interior was remodeled into a single, circular room with plastered walls, a skylight in the drop ceihng, and a terrazzo floor. The floor contained an inlaid map locating the fort at the junction of the two rivers and showing the buildings and parade grounds within the walled post as they were about 1840. In addition to this, Richard Haines painted a 6-foot-high mural that completely encircled the tower and depicted various scenes in the fort's history.

The post military command and the Minnesota His­torical Society jointly administered the museum. The military provided building maintenance and a custo­dian, while the societv furnished and installed suitable exhibits. This system worked well until 1946 when, on October 14, Fort Snelling was discontmued as a militarv reservation. The Veterans' Administration, which assumed custod\' of the buildings and area, was unable to furnish a custodian for the tower. As a result, the museum remained closed until 1964 when the his­torical societ)' reopened it under the guidance of John Grossman, who served as tour guide and curator.

The long-term survival of the fort was again threat­ened early in 1956 when the Minnesota highway de­partment announced plans to encircle the Round Tower with a new freeway system. The historical so­ciety led the opposition to this proposal, warning that the historic integrity of the area would be despoiled. Governor Orville Freeman, who mediated the dispute, suggested that a study be made of the feasibility of placing the highway in a tunnel under the area be­tween the 1920s chapel and the Round Tower. Eventu­ally this plan \\'as accepted, and the highway was routed through a 450-foot tunnel.

With the approach of the state's one-hundreth birth­day in 1958, the Statehood Centennial Commission granted the Minnesota Historical Society $25,000 to undertake the archaeological investigation of the old fort. Under the direction of John M. Callender the proj­ect began in September, 1957, and extended over a period of sixteen months. Actual digging took nine

'St. Paul Pioneer Press, September 11, 1895, p. 12. ^ St. Paul Pioneer Press, September 11, 1895, p. 4.

84 Minnesota History

months. Mr. Callender and his crew partially excavated the foundations of seven structures erected under the direction of Colonel Josiah Snelling. Because Mr. Cal-lendcr's actual field notes were never filed with the his­torical society, and were not otherwise available, the greater portion of the archaeological work conducted at the post during the 1966 and 1967 seasons was a re­examination of the 1957-58 excavations.

INFORMATION for the restoration and reconstruc­tion of Fort Snelling has come primarily from three sources: written, archaeological, and pictorial. Unfor­tunately, the written records rarch' describe the indi­vidual structures in sufficient detail for restoration work. Thus, the restorationist must extrapolate the necessar\- information from pictorial sources, including paintings, drawings, engravings, and photographs, as well as from the archaeological evidence. This was necessarv, for instance, in the reconstruction of the schoolhouse and sutler's store.

In March, 1835, Lieutenant John McClure submit­ted a report to army headquarters in Washington, D.C, regarding the function and physical condition of struc­tures at Fort Snelhng. He included a keyed map of the post buildings and floor plans identifying the rooms by use or occupant. Facade, or elevation, drawings of a number of the structures also accompanied the report. Information of this type would appear to be a godsend, except for a number of unaccountable discrepancies. McClure's map is one of the most accurate ground plans of the fort, and yet he shows hipped roofs on a number of structures that had shed-type roofs. His schoolhouse floor plan (identified as the sutler's store­room ) locates the fireplace at the west end of the build­ing. When the schoolhouse was excavated, however, the foundations of the fireplace were found at the east end. The archaeological evidence was confirmed by a wood engraving based on a sketch made by Adolf Hoeffler in 1852 and printed in Harper's New Monthly Magazine in July, 1853.^

McClure placed the fireplace in the sutler's store at the east end of the building. A large, centrally situated double fireplace was uncovered archaeologically. This location was also confirmed by the Hoeffler engraving and by a photograph of the interior of the fort made

* Lieutenant John McClure to Quartermaster General Thomas S. Jesup, March 1, 1835, National Archives Record Group (NARG) 92. The Minnesota Historical Society has photostatic copies of the report and the map.

° For descriptions and illustrations of tools in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, see Eric Sloane, A Museum of Early American Tools (New York, 1964) and Henry Mercer, Ancient Carpenters' Tools (Doyles-town, Pennsylvania, 1960).

for another army report in 1863. There was no archaeo­logical indication of another chimney or fireplace in cither building.

In some cases it has been necessary to fall back on a knowledge of standard building practices of the pe­riod. Books like Ashcr Benjamin's American Builde/s Companion (6th edition, Boston, 1827; reprinted New York, 1969) were written as manuals or guides for car­penters. They enabled the small-town carpenter to build with a degree of style and sophistication that

CAREFUL EXCAVATION of tlie schoolhouse foun­dation revealed the location and horizontal dimensions of the fireplace whicli was laid at the east end of the structure (visible at the top of the picture).

might otherwise have been lacking. In addition to pro­viding an aesthetic base, the Builder's Companion fur­nished information on various types of construction framing, roof and rafter framing, and supports.-

A thorough knowledge of the tools of the period, their use and limitations, is also essential to the restora­tionist. Most of these tools are unknown to the modem carpenter, yet there is no way to simulate their marks. Thus, it becomes necessary to obtain old tools or to make facsimiles, both of which have been done during the Fort Snelling restoration. In addition, it has been necessary to train craftsmen in the use and care of old tools. Fortunately, a number of our craftsmen enjoy the varied work at Fort Snelling so much that they volunteer to retum year after year.®

The restorationist, having assimilated all of the in­formation obtained from the various sources, may then.

Fall 1970 85

in co-operation with the architect, prepare the draw­ings necessarv to restore or to recreate a given struc­ture. It is at this time that more modern elements in the form of materials or methods are considered. How may a building be improved without altering its sur­face textures and appearance? How may modern tech­nology be applied to this process? Restored sites are visited by people who may or may not be familiar with the limitations of original materials. What will a mod­ern visitor say after brushing against a whitewashed wall? Can whitewash be simulated with the undesir­able characteristic removed? Flat latex paint comes close in general appearance, and it will resemble white­wash even more closely if it is painted over a prepared base.

THIS ANCIENT hand tool, the adze, produced the rough-hewn look of beams used by sol­dier-builders on the frontier in tlie 1820s. Q-t-

to J. THE FIRST BUILDING to be examined archaeologi­cally was the Round Tower. However, the wall with the adjacent guardroom complex was the first to be reconstmcted. With the exception of two short stubs projecting from the Round Tower, the entire wall sur­rounding the fort had been pulled down by 1900. In June, 1966, 185 feet of the waff extending between the Round and Hexagonal towers were excavated. Except ^ for several small breaks caused by modem storm H)~ sewers and electrical cables, the wall foundation was M^ intact. It rested upon the bedrock where it had been laid 146 years before.

The dirt was removed from around the foundation stones and the bedrock cleaned preparatory to paint­ing stripes on either side of the extant wall. These stripes provided controls to insure that the reconstruc­ted wall would conform to any idiosyncrasy displayed in the original structure. A reinforced concrete footing was then laid in conformity to the painted lines. This footing, in turn, formed the base of a reinforced con­crete spine, one foot thick, which forms the core of the rebuilt wall. The combined spine and footing re­semble an inverted "T". The arms of the "T" provide a shelf for the limestone masonry facings which are fastened to the vertical core with metal masonry ties. This method of construction has proved quite durable. The 10-foot-high wall has not settled or developed cracks in four years.

86 Minnesota History

Photogrammetry, the science of using photography to make surveys or maps, was employed to determine the proper range in height of the wall, as the recorded measurements vary widely. The wall, from the Round Tower eastward for a distance of 100 feet, was once surmounted by a low picket palisade, of which a small portion between the tower and the Civil War commis­sary-warehouse probably survived until a fire in 1869. When the wall was rebuilt, the cedar pickets were pres­sure-impregnated with chemicals to make them resistant to rot, insects, and fire. Cut to length, pointed, and notched for the tie rail, the pickets were then lag-bolted to a 2-by-12-inch plank, the tie rail was secured in place with oak treenails, and the whole unit was bolted in place on top of the concrete wall spine.

There is no evidence as to the original method used to place this picket line. The present technique, which is probably not the one used in 1820-24, simulates well

THE ARCHITECT DREW a floor plan and front and end elevations of the guardhouse. The end elevation reveals the outside wall's cement core and the raised walkway used by patrolling sentries.

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INSIDE THE ROUND TOWER crews chipped off the plaster (including, unavoidably, the Richard Haines mural) and opened the long-blocked gun .slits as a pre­lude to the actual restoration.

and facihtates wall maintenance and the replacement of damaged or rotted pickets. The wall between the Round and Pentagonal towers was rebuilt in 1968 and 1969 using the same procedure.

THE SECOND STRUCTURE to be restored in 1966 was the guardroom complex — a row of rooms at­tached to the wall of the fort. These chambers, as iden­tified by McClure, were the officer of the guard's room (at the east end of the row next to the gate), guard­room, prison room, two cells, a coalhouse, and the lime-house. Manuscript dimensions for the complex vary widely, the length being given at anything between 67 feet and 81 feet in length. The width is uniformly given at 21 feet. Excavation of the officer of the guard's room, the guardroom, the prison room, and cells showed an initial length of 52 feet. The addition of the coalhouse brought the length to 6932 feet, and with the final exca­vation of the limehouse the extant foundations meas­ured 8VA feet.

Mr. Callender had excavated the greater share of the guardroom complex previously and only the east­ern end, containing the officer of the guard's room and the foundation of the double fireplace which had sepa­rated it from the guardroom, remained in relatively undisturbed condition. In his 1835 report McClure stated that there was a stove in the guardroom. Ap­parently, the original fireplace provided as little warmth as its replacement furnished during the 1968-69 winter when the building was used as an archaeo­logical laboratory.

The guardroom complex is straightforward masonry construction of the random ashlar-rubble stone type that characterizes all of the Fort Snelling work.*'' Wall

" Ashlar refers to hewn or squared stone and in a some­what narrower sense to squared and dressed stone for fac­ing a wall of rubble or brick. Rubble refers to rough, bro­ken, irregular stone.

WALKWAY

Fall 1970 87

thickness was based on the archaeological evidence. Placement of the interior doors, those for the main prison room and solitary cells, was based on the Mc­Clure drawings. An 1863 photograph of the post pro­vided exterior door and window dimensions and placement as well as the number of lights (panes) in the window frames.

One of the ongoing problems for the restorationist is the dating of photographs. Rarely are they marked with the date, even the year, that they were taken, and it often becomes an exercise in deduction to place

ROUND TOWER PENTAGONAL TOWER

THE IRREGULAR DIAMOND SHAPE of tlie fort fitted the terrain of the river bluff, while the towers over­looked the two rivers and tiie plains behind.

them within a known, dated reference frame. The writer was able to date one photograph of the Round Tower in the Minnesota Historical Society collection from having seen its duplicate in an old family photo album.

Some of the value judgments made by the restora­tionist are apparent in the guardroom complex. For in­stance, the floors are made of random-width oak planks, roughly hand-sawed to approximate rocker-frame saw marks. Although pine w&s probably used by Snelling's men when the fort was built, oak was selected for the reconstruction to extend the wear life of the flooring and reduce long-term maintenance costs. All wood used in the restoration is treated with a commercial pre­servative to lengthen its life. The decision to leave the flooring with the saw kerfs rather than adze marks was based on archaeological evidence.

Another decision was facilitated when a but ton was recovered from under the bottom block of the founda­tion in the northeast corner of the officer of the guard's room. The button, with its wire back loop broken, had

apparently been scraped from a soldier's coat as he was lowering the stone into position. This artifact enabled the restorationist to date the construction of the guard­room complex to either the fall of 1823 or the spring of 1824. The but ton is from a greatcoat and was not pro­duced prior to 1820. Indeed, Scoville Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut, sent samples to the army commissary for approval in April, 1820. If one allows for the production of both but tons and coats and for shipping time, first to St. Louis and then to Fort Snelling, he can see tha t it was unlikely tha t buttons of this pat tern could have arrived before the summer of 1823. By that t ime the sawmill was producing planks for the post.''

W e are fortunate in our period at Fort Snelling. If the fort had been built twenty years earher, the cost of accuracy would have been many times multiplied. Nails are simple, inexpensive things when machine-made. There were two types in use when the fort was buih. The first was "rosehead," a hand-made wrought iron nail, so named from the shape of the head. The second and more commonly used kind was a machine-made cut nail. Fortunately, a very similar cut nail is still made today. The rosehead variety is used in the restoration as it was originally, mostly for applying door hardware or in the applications where the nail must be "clinched" (dr iven through, ben t over, and hammered d o w n ) . Cut nails are bri t t le and will break if bent. All the rosehead nails and hardware used in the restored or reconstructed buildings were made in the temporary blacksmith shop by Jerome Rutoski or the writer. The ha rdware is manufactured from mild steel rather than wrought iron for economy and for identification as to its modern provenience. In general, the hardware conforms to types in use dur ing the pe­riod of original construction. W h e n we started to pro­duce the ha rdware for the fort, the only examples that we had recovered archaeologically were two pintles and a latchkeeper. Since then the range of original samples has increased, happily bear ing out the designs of the hardware already produced at the fort.

All of the window glass used at the fort has been manufactured by hand by the Blinka Art Glass Com­pany of Milton, West Virginia. It duplicates fairly closely the glass of the Revolutionary W a r period and the years immediately following. However , a later glass of a character more nearly suited to our needs is not yet commercially available.

' T h e button is general service button pattern no. 256a in David F. Johnson's Uniform Buttons: American Armed Forces, 1784-1948, 2:plate no. 22 (Watkins Glen, New York, [1959]).

88 Minnesota History

T H E S C H O O L H O U S E was the third structure to be reconstructed. As already noted, the reconstruction drawings prepared from McClure's report had to be corrected after the archaeological examination re­vealed the t rue fireplace location.

An administrative decision was then made to re­place one window on the north facade with a door, thus helping insure a good traffic flow while the struc­ture is used as a museum and reception center. Un­fortunately, the multiple role of the building has also resulted in objectionable overelectrification. Ultimately, however, it will revert to being interpretive of the school and chapel in the 1820-30 period. Another point of readily discernible difference from the original is the fireplace aperture which is lined with fire brick to conform with present-day safety regulations. The writer feels that all fireplaces in a restoration should be used. A great portion of restoration work is expended in establishing an historic milieu or atmosphere. A fire­place with fire or at least ashes and the smell of wood smoke is quite helpful to this end.

The fireplace was rebuilt in brick because samples of the original brick were recovered in the excavations. The dimensions of the fireplace aperture, or throat, were copied from an extant fireplace of the period lo­cated at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland. A photograph dating to the 1895-1900 period in the col­lection of Harold E. Vanderwater of Minneapolis, and also in the Minneapolis Public Library's Edward A. Bromley collection, shows the end wall of the commis­sary-warehouse (adjacent to the Hexagonal Tower) with its fireplace still intact. It confirms the proportions utilized in reconstructing the schoolhouse fireplace.

During the archaeological examination of the school-house, the crew encountered quantities of sand-float, or rough sand, plaster which had been applied directly to the masonry on the interior of the building. (One lump of plaster bore no fewer than nine separate layers of whitewash!) This method of applying plaster di­rectly to the masonry leads to continual maintenance problems in Minnesota and thus was not used in the reconstruction.

The writer had the stone in each wall reduced six inches in thickness. A balloon frame structure was built inside the stone, and wire lath was applied to it. When plaster was applied to the lath, the walls returned to their original thickness and appearance. The resulting air space not only keeps the plaster from flaking off the

'Josiah Snelling to Jesup, August 16, 1864 (copy in the society), and McClure to Jesup, March 1, 1835, both in NARG 92; War Department, Surgeon General's Office, Report on Barracks and Hospitals with Descriptions of Military Posts, circular no. 4, p. 369 (Washington, Decem­ber 5, 1870).

walls as the masonry sweats and freezes in the spring and fall, but it also provides an insulating layer of air.

Before beginning quarrying operations, we scruti­nized the old stones in the Round and Hexagonal tow­ers. No stones in the two extant s tmctures bore drill marks indicative of blasting dur ing the quarrying process. It was concluded, erroneously, that blasting had not been used at Fort Snelling in the 1820s. W e reasoned that the local Galena-Platteville l imestone is so prone to spalling, or chipping, along its deposition lines that the builders of the fort realized qui te early that blasting ruined the stone for constmction use. This theory was disproved, however, when some stones ex­cavated in the schoolhouse foundations were discov­ered with holes made with star drills to accommodate the blasting charge. Nonetheless, m o d e m quarrying techniques have proved so efficient and economical without blasting that we have continued to use them. The city of St. Paul and the W e b b Pubhshing Company have graciously allowed us to quarry stone on their property and thus have helped make the reconstruction of the fort economically feasible.

The eaves of the schoolhouse have been painted with exterior-grade latex paint to simulate whi tewash or white lead which, mixed with linseed oil, was also used at the fort. The lintels above the doors and windows were planed and scored with ax and chisel to simulate broadax markings. This was not altogether successful, so all lintels have been adzed or broadaxed since 1967.

The soldiers who built Fort Snelling dug a well 24 feet deep. At that depth, Snelling reported, "the water rushes in through a fissure in the rock.'' In his 1835 report to the quartermaster general, McClure stated that the well could supply drinking water for 125 men at most seasons of the year. By 1863 the wellhouse was no longer extant. The surgeon general's report of 1870 stated that until recently the post had been supphed with water from the "spring half a mile above." T h e report noted that water was currently being p u m p e d from the Minnesota River to a reservoir, bu t it con­tained too much rotting vegetable mat ter and was fit only for washing. Drinking water cont inued to be hauled in tank wagons from the Camp Coldwater spring.^

Unfortunately, the sole photograph of the well yet found dates only to 1860 when the Mmnesota State Fair was held at the fort. The picture lacks sufficient detail to have been of real aid in redesigning the well-house. The first rebuilt wellhouse was too elaborate. It included much more detail in the eave soffit (un­derside) than would have been installed initially on such a utilitarian structure. In addition, lack of quah ty control led to the use of rough rotary-sawed lumber , which was not employed prior to the 1830s. The well-

Fa// 7970 89

house was revised in August, 1969, prior to a visit to the fort by people attending the annual meeting of the American Association for State and Local History in St. Paul. The structure's proportions were altered, and the exterior was remodeled into a more functional appearance. Cover doors were installed to keep out trash.

The prototypes for the remodeling were wellhouses in the Yorktown and Williamsburg, Virginia, areas, as well as those in a number of other restorations. As such, the wellhouse at Fort Snelling is a composite, based largely on wells of the Revolutionary War period to about 1810. The writer believes, however, that it is probably much closer to the original than the 1966 effort.

THE ROUND TOWER, which had been the first structure excavated at the post (in 1965), was the last building restored in the 1966 restoration-reconstruc­tion program. If restoration work on the tower had not commenced when it did, it is possible that a large segment of the outer parapet might not have survived. Water from a leak in the roof had collected inside the wall. When it froze, it forcibly bulged a section almost to the break-out point. It was necessary to replace this section, although restoration was less damaging than the uncontrolled natural action would have been.

The Round Tower in the course of its 150-year ex­istence has endured numerous modifications. Most of these have interfered with the structural integrity of the building, and in many respects we are fortunate in be­ing able to count it among the four extant original structures. In 1862 the tower was modified by raising the parapet and instalhng a silo-type (conical) roof. The higher side walls created a usable third floor.

In December, 1869, a fire gutted the Round Tower and the adjacent Civil War commissary-warehouse and prompted a conscious effort to restore the badly dam­aged circular landmark. After the tower was thor­oughly cleaned and inspected to determine whether it could be salvaged, it was remodeled about 1870 or 1871, and the roof again became a weather deck. This was a time when romanticism still flourished and Sir Waher Scott's Ivanhoe was popular. The engineer re­sponsible for the remodehng pulled sections of the added parapet out to form the medievahappearing em­brasures, or crenels, which three generations of Min­nesotans have associated with the Round Tower.

In 1938 and 1939 the WPA, in conjunction with the Minnesota Historical Society and the army, changed the Round Tower from a residence (the post electri­cian, Thomas Marcum, his wife, and family lived there and had to move) to a museum. This was the last re­modeling of the tower until the 1966 enterprise.

90 Minnesota History

Research for the present restoration included trac­ing back the numerous modifications to establish how the interior of the tower looked originally. While ex­amining the walls for any additional structural infor­mation, the author discovered the burned ends of seven floor joists still in the original joist sockets. The beams were not original to the structure, as they were rotary-sawed. In 1835 McClure had recommended the re­placement of roofs and floors in a number of the post buildings because of the poor state of preservation. A great deal of this work was done by 1845, including the rebuilding in stone of the officers' quarters and the long barracks. The original wood, being unseasoned, apparently deteriorated quite rapidly and had to be replaced after a time. The account books of carpenter William R. Brown for the Civil War period indicate that he worked installing new floors in the barracks at Fort Snelling.^ Close examination of the joist sockets showed that the beams had been installed in a radial pattern. The outer ends were on approximately 7-foot centers and the extant beam ends were 6 inches by 8 inches. The spacing indicated a total of 16 beams.

With that information it was possible to extrapolate the dimensions of the central column. A minimum di-

AFTER WORLD WAR I the Round Tower housed of­fices and quarters before it was converted into a beauty shop and family residence. The post electrician and his wife lived in full 1930s comfort within the curved walls.

° The Brown account books are in the possession of the authors mother, Mrs. Clarence H. Johnson of St. Paul. Brown, a great-great-uncle of the author, also was a pio­neer farmer in the Red Rock area and left a diary that has been published. See Rodney C. Loehr, ed., Minnesota Farmers Diaries (St. Paul, 1939)

THE VAULTED limestone magazine rests on bedrock and is sheltered by a wooden shed which kept the pow der dry and sliaded tlie magazine from direct sunlight, thereby lessening the danger o spontaneous explosion.

ameter of six feet was determined as necessary to sup­port the floor and roof joists, as well as a flagstaff seen in historical photographs. The central column also sup­ported the spiral staircase leading from the ground to the first floor. This staircase could not be installed from the second floor to the roof because of the difficulty in making a weather-tight scuttle (lidded opening) for the roof. For this reason a steep staircase and a low, ship's-type hatchway were erected on the roof. There is no pictorial or written confirmation of this design, but it does seem the only logical solution to the prob­lem.

Photogrammetry was used to establish early ex­terior ground levels and the heights of the Round Tower and adjacent wall. One photograph, probably dating from the mid-1870s, was selected from the so­ciety's collection because of its clarity. A second photo­graph was taken from almost the same spot in the early spring of 1966. Measurements of two unaltered gun slits were made, as were measurements of several iden­tifiable stones. Enlargements of the two photos were made and keyed together. With these pictures and the known dimensions of the slits and stones, it was a sim­ple matter to calculate the height of the gun slits above grade (ground level). By coupling this information with further study of the tower's interior it was possible to determine the presence of a fire step around the cir­cumference of the tower and its probable height and width.

RECONSTRUCTION of the magazine was undertaken in 1967. The structure had been completely excavated by John Callender, who reported his findings in a booklet. New Light on Old Fort Snelling: "One of the most curious structures unearthed . . . was the maga­zine which once housed all the post's major ordnance and related military supplies. The building was, throughout the course of excavation and research, something of an enigma.

"Only one photograph, dated 1863, showing the en­tire structure of the magazine has been found. Another taken from the top of the Round Tower about 1861, and a drawing dated 1855 made from the same point, show the roof of the magazine in the foreground, but from these we learn only that the building had a gabled roof covered with shingles. Maps indicated, and the excavations subsequently disclosed, that the magazine was rounded at the southeast end. No reason for this semicircular shape was discovered, and no conjectures will be offered.

"The foundations have a semibasement about thirty inches deep and twelve by twenty-four feet in size. What appears to be a short ffight of irregular steps descends into the southeast end of the basement. Twelve square openings were found in its walls, prob­ably for drainage. . . Only two musket balls were discovered within the magazine, but it is known that in 1834, the structure contained 7,749 musket flints, 1,825 pounds of musket powder, and 1,513 pounds of

Fall 1970 91

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THIS 1863 PHOTOGRAPH was used extensively in the restoration. Although the Round Toiver (e) ap­pears with a conical roof added during the Civil War, the hospital (a), guardhouse (b), schoolhouse (c), and sutler's store (f) were essentially unchanged. Included is the best existing view of the magazine (d).

rifle powder for the use of the infantry alone. . . ." " As the 1966-67 excavations of the post progressed,

it could be readily seen that some of Mr. Callender's observations and interpretations were open to revision. In the light of photogrammetry and evidence from dig­ging the extreme easterly ends of the guardhouse and the schoolhouse, it became apparent that Mr. Callen­der had not allowed for the usual demolition practice of tearing foundations of building anywhere from a foot to two feet below grade level. In his excavations he had taken the top soil down to the level of the re­maining foundation and called this "parade ground level." This led to a number of misconceptions, includ­ing his published interpretation of the magazine strac-ture: "While the only existing pictures of the magazine show it standing on level ground, the excavations dis­close that its northwest end had originally been cut into the rock formation. Thus the actual appearance of the powder magazine at old Fort Snelling must remain, perhaps forever, something of a mystery.""

In fact, the square openings in the foundation walls were not drain holes, as Mr. Callender thought, as they provided no egress from the sunken area they sup­posedly drained. Their placement, when viewed with the steps, indicated that the holes were joist sockets. With the addition of two inches in height, they come out to a floor equal to the top of the lowest step.

Extensive research was done with photos and blue­prints of existing magazine structures from the Ameri­can Historic Building Survey Series. The writer visited a number of magazine structures on the East Coast and, although he found nothing similar to the construction of Fort Snelling, gathered a great deal of informa­tion. Coupled with Major Stephen H. Long's descrip-

92 Minnesota History

tions of three extant magazines in 1817 — those at Fort Crawford in Prairie du Chien, Fort Armstrong in Rock Island, and Fort Bellefontaine in St. Louis — this material provided a great deal of insight into the build­ing techniques utilized on the frontier. ̂ ^ In general, the points of difference between the frontier magazines described by Long and the Eastern examples were dic­tated by available materials. Two of the magazines Long examined had vaulted roofs, with the cribbing that was necessary to the original laying up of the vault left in place. The third was a small structure, six feet in amount of span. Such a small span does not re­quire permanent cribbing.

The barrel vault roof of the magazine at Fort Snell­ing is supported with timber cribbing. This corresponds to Long's descriptions of Fort Crawford and Fort Arm­strong. Apparently this was the frontier practice, pos­sibly necessitated by the use of rough stone and hand-fired mortar. In the more formal magazines in the East, where brick work was used, the vaults were commonly freestanding. (Fort Washington in Silesia, Maryland, is a fine example of this.)

The walls of the Fort Snelhng magazine, which are six feet thick, are pierced with three paired ventilation ports. In brick magazines these are built on a straight, horizontal line through the thickness of the wall. In the middle, the air passage divides to pass on either side of a column which effectively blocks the straight pas­sage through the wall. This is easily built with the use of uniformly sized building modules such as bricks. The zigzagged ventilation ports seem to have been more common when materials of irregular size and shape were used.

"John M. Callender, New Light on Old Fort Snelling: An Archaeological Exploration, 1957-58, 34 (St. Paul, 1959).

'^ Callender, New Light on Old Fort Snelling, 35. ""Long recorded his observations in his 181'7 journal,

entitled "Journey from Prairie du Chien to the Falls of St. Anthony," Long Papers, in the Minnesota Historical So­ciety.

The magazine at Fort Snelling was built of Platte­ville limestone in random ashlar-rubble stone, pat­terned after the stonework in the Hexagonal and Round towers. Perhaps the most interesting structure at the post, the magazine was designed to store gunpowder and other ordnance supplies. Black powder of the type once stored at Fort Snelling is a chemically unstable mixture that has to be kept dry and at as uniform a temperature as possible. The shed roof keeps the sun from beating on the stone building and, being raised above the structure, allows for free circulation of air for additional cooling.

As mentioned previously, the magazine's walls are six feet thick to support the barrel vault roof. At the center the vault is about eighteen inches thick. This is one of the safety features designed into the building, as is the small semicircular blast chamber through which one enters. If an explosion had occurred within the magazine, the first force of the explosion would have gone outward through the door, which is the weakest part of the building. It would then have been deflected upward by the semicircular wall which is covered only by the shed roof, some distance above the height of the wall. As the force of the explosion con­tinued to build within the structure, the top of the vault, being thinner and weaker than the walls, would have been blown upwards. Thus, the main force of the explosion, having been contained by the thick walls, would have been forced to go straight up. This pro­tected any soldiers in the open from the immediate blast effect, and presumably they could have put their hands over their heads and run for cover before things started coming down again.

The blast wall or semicircular chamber at the en­trance is reflected in a number of the more formal magazine structures in the East, where deep earthen-work walls surrounding the entire magazine were erected to contain and direct upward the force of an explosion.

The magazine floor was made of oak planks, hand-adzed and secured to the floor beams with wooden

pegs. The pegs were both glued and press fit. No nails were used. This prevented sparks from being struck from the iron hobnails in the soldier's boot soles and heels. The interior of the structure was painted white to reflect any light coming through the doors. Because more than a ton of gunpowder was stored there, no one wanted lanterns or candles in the magazine.

At present the interior of the magazine remains un­finished. A large electrical conduit runs diagonally through it and furnishes power to the buildings occu­pied by the Veterans' Administration. Now that the state of Minnesota holds title to these properties, per­haps the cable can be rerouted in the foreseeable fu­ture. At the same time proper steps into the magazine interior may be constnicted. Flooring may then be in­stalled in the semicircular entry and a copper-clad door placed on the main structure.

EXCAVATIONS on the Round Tower-Pentagonal Tower wall axis commenced in April, 1968. Several straddle trenches were dug in the lawn area between Building No. 14 erected in the 1860s and Tower Ave­nue, dating from the late 1870s and now partly re­moved. A large backhoe removed the concrete and building block roadbed from the street and a small caterpillar-bulldozer was used to expose the wall foun­dations. At one point it appeared that the wall would intersect with Building No. 14. A slight curve in the foundations at a point 235 feet northeast of the Round Tower brought the wall roughh' parallel to the front of Building No. 14 for the remainder of the 375 feet ex­posed in 1968.

This wall extension exhibited no abutting building foundations along its length. It is known, however, that a frame structure identified as a gunshed was located along the wall in the immediate area of the Round Tower. This site was not examined archaeologically as the shed was not one of the original structures within the fort. A second building, the rear enclosure of the sutler's store, probably abutted the fort wall at both 148 feet and 188 feet east of the Round Tower. The

Fall 1970 93

presence of a large modern storm sewer, running in­

side the fort wall and parallel to it, has completely ob­

literated all trace of this.

The wall was restored using the same footing and concrete spine arrangement employed on the Round Tower gatehouse extension previously described. The wall was partially faced with limestone in 1968 and was completely faced during the f969 construction season. Provision to place pickets along the top of this wall v '̂as made, although they have not yet been in­stalled.

SNELLING D E S C R I B E D the sutler's store as similar in size and appearance to the schoolhouse. McClure's report contained both a floor plan and an elevation drawing of the store. The floor plan shows a lean-to butting against the back of the building, as well as two curtain walls, extending from the rear corners of the structure to the Round Tower-Pentagonal Tower wall extension. It is not clear when the lean-to and the rear enclosures were built. The writer believes they were added to the original main building sometime between 1824 and 1835.^3

Photogrammetry, based on what is perhaps the best extant photograph of the sutler's store, yielded window, door, and over-all elevations and dimensions. The 1864 view indicates that the sutler's store and the school-house had the same vertical elevations. The sutler's store was 11 feet from grade (ground level) to its eaves. Roof height, eaves to ridge, was an additional 8 feet ( the foregoing figures are within 3 inches plus or minus) . The roof was of the hipped variety, with a pitch of 1 foot vertical rise to 1.5 feet, horizontal ex­tension. The eaves projected about 9 inches beyond the wall. Thus the length of the roof, over the end eaves, was approximately 41 feet, and the ridge length was approximately 17 feet 3 inches.

The archaeological excavations showed that the foundations were 3932 feet by 2U2 feet in outside dimen­sions. The wall thickness below original grade ranged between 22 and 30 inches, with an average of approxi­mately 24 inches.

Structurally, the sutler's store is the least sound of the buildings excavated to date. This observation is based on the fact that out of a total circumference of 102 feet, only 48 feet of the foundation rested on bed­rock. The remaining 55 feet of wall foundation rested in black loamy soil as much as 2 feet above bedrock. The limestone caprock under the sutler's store has a 10-degree slope to the southeast.

A stone threshold approximately 3 feet by 6 feet was found centrally located along the facade of the building. This correlates with the door location as shown both by the McClure drawing and the afore-

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THIS ELEVATION AND PLANof the sut­ler's store were taken from McClure's 1835 report, which proved helpful despite tlie misplaced fireplace.

mentioned photograph. The facade bore a center door flanked by two windows to either side. The door open­ing appears to have been 3 feet 3 inches by 7 feet 3 inches, while the windows were approximately 3 feet by 4 feet 9 inches. Spacing appears to have been regu­lar.

The stone walls of the structure were of the random ashlar-rubble stone construction typical at For t Snell­ing. Inside the building a central H-shaped fireplace was located between the front and back doors. Its base was roughly 6 feet by 8 feet. Although the fireplace base had been torn down below hear th level, the con­centration of artifacts recovered would appear to indi­cate a throat facing each end of the building.

Photographic evidence shows tha t there were no

" Snelling to Jesup, August 16, 1824, and McClure to Jesup, March 1, 1835, both in NARG 92.

94 Minnesota History

windows on the end walls of the store and, in the opinion of the writer, no windows on the back wall of the structure. There is no corroborating evidence for this opinion other than the construction of a lean-to against the store's back some time between 1824 and 1834. The writer thinks also that a blank back wall would have facilitated more shelving within the store and greater security for the sutler's goods.

The building interior seems to have been plastered or stuccoed with mortar and whitewashed many times. This was indicated b\' quantities of whitewashed mor­tar recovered during the excaxations.

In order to save time, the structure was rebuilt from the construction dra\\'ings prepared for the schoolhouse. The modifications to this were the place­ment of the door, central fireplace, and the back door, as well as the exclusion of windows on the back wall. Other than these x'ariations, the details in the frame structure and in other regards are the same as in the schoolhouse.

THE PENTAGONAL TOWER was reconstructed in the 1969 season. This structure had as httle documenta­tion as the magazine. There is only one close-up photo­graph of the tower in the historical society's collection. The picture was erroneoush' titled "Valley of Minne­sota," as it was taken from a position just up the Mississippi River bluff from the Pentagonal Tower and only shows the Minnesota River confluence at the ex­treme downstream end of Pike Island. The picture does, however, \'ield much valuable information. It shows the outer part of the tower and reveals the fol­lowing points: the cannon ports were not sited to pro­vide anything but enfilade fire down the fort's walls; the two facades facing outward across the Mississippi were provided only with musket slits; the amount of batter or inward slope to the walls of the structure; the angle of pitch and amount of overhang in the roof; the appearance of the cave soffits; and the random ashlar-rubble stonework.

The area of the Pentagonal Tower had been virtu­ally destroyed by a number of intrusive sewer and power line trenches which had been extended through it We were fortunate enough to have uncovered seg­ments of the foundations sufficient to indicate the widths of the base wall (containing door) and adjoin­ing side walls and the angles of their joining. This en­abled us to project the length of the base wall although only one intact corner of the structure remained. Our excavations also revealed the junction point of the Round Tower-Pentagonal Tower v\'all extension with the Pentagonal Tower and the base of the circular central column. A 12-foot section of the wall which ran between the Pentagonal Tower and the half-moon bat-

THIS NINETEENTH CENTURY scenic panorama, per­haps only incidentally including a close-up of tiie Pen­tagonal Tower, provided otherwise unknown informa­tion about roof pitch and placement of gun .slits.

tery allowed us to project the junction point between this wall and the east side of the Pentagonal Tower.

This information, along with a copy of the archaeo­logical field map, was given Brooks Cavin of Minne­apolis, our consultant architect. Mr. Cavin proceeded to have construction drawings made in August, 1969.

Because the Mississippi River bluff had eroded a number of feet since the original tower had been built, Mr. Cavin provided massive reinforced concrete foot­ings with a reinforced concrete central spine to furnish additional structural integrity to the building. The footings are the full width of the structure's walls, 5 feet, with the exception of the wall with the door open-

Fa// 1970 95

A-PLAN of the Pentagonal Tower adapted from the architect's drawing

STOME WALL NTAGONAL JOWER.

ing which was archaeologically verified as being only 3 feet thick. The concrete wall spine was heavily rein­forced and firmly anchored to the footings.

As no photographs showing any detail of the gun ports in the Pentagonal Tower were available, they were rebuilt according to the pictorial evidence for the westward gun port in the Hexagonal Tower. The unique configuration of that gun port was dictated by its having been situated to fire out at a low height above the general grade level. The other four gun ports in the Hexagonal Tower were situated three stories above grade.

The reconstruction followed the specifications pro­vided in the drawing of the Pentagonal Tower. The concrete wall spine was faced with stone; the gun port lintels were adzed to shape; and the floors were rebuilt of hand-adzed oak planks in random widths. Purlins in the roof were surface-treated with a chain saw to simulate pit-saw markings.

The roof of the structure is covered with cedar shakes, split and resawed, as are the other structures at Fort Snelling. Hinged gun port covers were installed during the spring of 1970. There is no specific informa­

tion about their installation and fastening, so "of the period" methods of application were employed. The gun port covers and doors are made of rough hand-sawed white cedar, glued and nailed on either side of a piece of ^-inch waterproofed plywood (the edge of the door has a wood "dutchman" glued in place to conceal the plywood edge). The doors appear to be two-layer planks but are very sturdy. Hardware was manufactured at our temporary blacksmith shop.

The outer point of the tower is now within a foot of the cliff as a result of erosion. To prevent anyone from attempting to walk along this narrow ledge, sev­eral sharpened iron bars were installed in the masonry with the points sloping downward at an angle sufficient to discourage their use as ladder rungs. These points or bars were hand-forged from mild steel to give them the appearance of being original to the tower.

THE HEXAGONAL TOWER is probably the least modified of the four remaining original structures at Fort Snelling. This is merely a statement of degree, for the original roof and floors were replaced between 1835 and 1845 and again about 1904. During the latter

96 Minnesota History

remodeling the floors were not replaced on radial beams as they had been originally, and the roof was covered with slate. The gun ports were shuttered, and glass windows were installed in the musket slits. The entire structure, interior as well as exterior, was re-pointed with broad smears of portland cement and then trowel-struck to simulate coursing. Photographs of the structure taken just prior to this rejuvenation show the building in a state of disrepair. Even a stone lintel over the door had broken and sagged. In 1966 the structure was used b\' the Veterans' Administration to house an electrical transformer.

Considerable fifl has been placed around the Hexa­gonal Tower. This alters its appearance and must be removed. The earth on the west and southwest faces was partially excavated in the summer of 1970 as work­men dug the shop complex and the remainder of the Round Tower-Hexagonal Tower wall extension (ap­proximately 178 feet, excluding the gatehouse). The original grade on the western side was discovered 12 feet down. The fill along the east and northeast walls of the tower will be taken away when the historical society restores the 1820 commissary building.

The Hexagonal Tower is a six-sided structure, three stories in height. The top floor (above grade on all faces) had five gun ports. The next two decks down had only musket slits, above which are lintels of what ap­pears to be original lumber. These have been attacked by beetles in the past. Close examination of the lintels and of the stone walls on the interior revealed traces of whitewash, indicating that the entire inside had been whitewashed some time ago. The interior of the Hexagonal Tower revealed itj later alterations more readily than did the exterior. The central column had been partially removed in 1904 when the army re­modeled the building. The ground floor had been re­placed with cement, and the second and top floors had been replaced with the beams in a rectilinear grid. The central column had been torn down to a point below the modern top floor where it served as a support post for the top floor. A quarter of the ground floor had been taken up with a room that housed the transformer. A wooden stairway descended along the northeast wall and obstructed the musket slits on that side, a condi­tion that never would have been allowed originally. In addition, a small hand-operated elevator had been in­stalled with an open shaft, protected only by guard rails, in front of the entrance on the top floor.

After the cement floor in the bottom of the tower was removed, archaeological investigations brought to light a number of things. The area beneath the ground floor had been used as a dump for obsolescent military stores and food remnants — probably from the officers' quarters. The latest materials recovered were from the

1890-1900 period, although much earlier material, in­cluding gunflints, was also recovered.

The joist sockets for the ground-floor level were un­covered in the base of the central column. Some of the sockets contained very rotted beams. As the excavations continued, it was found that the west, north, and north­east walls rested on bedrock which dropped off rapidly to the south. The southern three walls of the tower were built on a stone platform which extended outside the building on its south and southeast faces. The area immediately inside these faces had been open at one time. This was shown by whitewash traces on these faces to a depth of 4 feet below the floor level. The writer conjectures that this space probably constituted a small ready magazine of powder to serve the two twelve-pound cannon on the top floor. This space was probably accessible only through a trap door.

The smear-pointing was removed from the structure both inside and out. The original mortar was raked back quite deeply, and the entire structure tuck-pointed, inside and out, with a high lime content mor-

THE HEXAGONAL TOWER'S west gun port was copied for the Pentagonal Tower ports. It ivas con­structed differently from the other ports because of the ground level over which it was to fire.

tar. This stabilization was necessary because the orig­inal mortar crumbles into loose sand when struck or even squeezed in the hand.

The lintel had to be removed from only one musket slit, which was in a state of semi-collapse. The floors in most of the musket slits had to be replaced because the limestone had rotted and scaled from water lying in them and freezing and thawing over the past 150 years.

When the broadly smeared portland pointing had been removed, the original beam sockets in the outer

Fail 1970 97

walls became apparent. The wooden floors were re­placed at the proper height and positioning. The mor­tar original to the building has a warm pinkish-brown cast that is readily distinguished from later modifica­tions. This is one of the points of difference in the over­all appearance of the restored or reconstructed build­ings. The decision was made to use a high lime content mortar that dries to a whitish gra\' color rather than to attempt to color it artificially to a shade more nearly like that of the original. Influencing this decision was the virtual impossibility of achieving a reasonablv uni­form color in various mortar batches and of blending colors when repointing becomes necessary.

All early photographs of the Hexagonal Tower in­dicate that the gun port lintels were squared timbers. In 1969, whfle the building was being prepared for restoration and the installation of the roof, the discov­ery was made that the original timbers had been re­moved. The wooden lintels had been replaced with sec­tions of railroad track that were covered with stucco. During replacement of the original lintels, the masonry above them had been torn out and supplanted and the one gun port on the west wall of the tower had been reconfigured to match the other four apertures. The gun ports have been rebuilt with wooden lintels adzed to the original configuration. The roof pitch and soffit treatment are patterned after photographs, which re­grettably date after the first reroofing of the Hexagonal Tower. Because of an absence of earlier drawings or

paintings giving sufficient data to aid in restoration, it was necessary to work from the information in hand. Building techniques had not yet changed greatly, so it is reasonable to assume that the first reroofing strongly resembled the roof as originally built.

Dur ing the spring of 1970 the interior of the Hexa­gonal Tower was restored to its original configuration. And throughout the summer, while sesquicentennial events drew numerous visitors to the fort, archaeologi­cal excavation continued. So did other investigation — inquiry into proper furnishings for the buildings as well as broad-spectrum research into the history of the fort. Over-all planning for a full interpretative program at the fort also advanced. This backgrounding is essen­tial for the considerable work still to be done before the entire fort crowns the bluff above Pike Island as it once did. It is to be hoped that, given continued legis­lative support and adequate staffing, smooth and steady progress can be made toward completion of the re­construction of the fort advocated by General Mason seventy-five years ago.

THE DRAWING on page 86 is from Eric Sloane, A Museum of Eady American Tools. Copyright © 1964 by Wilfred Funk, Inc. All Rights Reserved. By permission of the pub­lisher. Funk & Wagnalls, New York. Paul Waller adapted the drawings on pages 86-87, 91, and 96 from architect Brooks Cavin's plans. All photographs are from the society's col­lection.

98 Minnesota History

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